Debtors' Prison should be required reading for anyone who influences economic policy in this country. Open-minded readers should come away convinced that we need to reject the economics of despair for an economics of hope.

How many economists does it take -- to make the Congress and the president and the media pay attention? Paul Krugman has been warning of the dangers of austerity for a long time. But the media treats him as an outlier.

The Macy's Corporation may soon be remembered more for the political machinations of its CEO than for the wholesome fun of its parades. This year Macy's is putting its corporate resources behind another over-hyped and over-reported spectacle.

Do we do it under a president who cares deeply about the safety net, or kick the can to some future president who may be less committed to the elderly and vulnerable? The fiscal cliff threatens the recovery, but it also presents Democrats an opportunity.

The main rewrite now underway in their twice-weekly televised clashes is a rewrite on housing finance.

Whether or not the the #Occupy Wall Street protesters explicitly adopt policy proposals or only generate political energy for the spirit of them, the Krugman/Stiglitz Army is at last on the march.

On Labor Day, President Obama should announce a "Jobs First" program. Namely, spend $300 billion more starting now to spur consumer demand in exchange for $300 billion in reduced spending in 2014. Jobs first. Cuts later.

To win elections Democrats need to get the economy moving, and you can't do that in a "centrist" way. They should compromise when they must, but this time they need to make it clear that they are compromising.

The economy not only has a scarcity of jobs, but a shortage of good jobs. And while Republicans would resist legislating a serious public jobs program, the administration should fight for one anyway.

It's frightening to consider the implications of Simpson's reaction - the fierceness, the ideological drive, and the closed-mindedness. Remember, his Commission has been entrusted with determining your financial future.

IMF Executive Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is "cool under fire", as Central European University President John Shattuck said when introducing him, and didn't break his stride during his presentation at Kings College, University of Cambridge.

Warren Buffet has wisely observed that the proposed fiscal crisis due to entitlement spending does not take into full consideration expansion of the economy over the coming years.

The health care battle is beginning to look a lot like Afghanistan -- a pit into which America pours a never ending stream of rationalizations, compromises, resources and effort.

While Republicans throw $700 billion to Wall Street but complain about a $14 billion loan for blue collar workers, Bob Kuttner explains why this should be a transforming economic and political moment for Obama.

I'm not satisfied with the roster of economic personalities and thinkers we see Barack Obama mixing with.

You hear that implosion reverberating through financial markets? It's the sound of decades of conservative ideology collapsing.